Rental Person Who Does Nothing: A Memoir by Shoji Morimoto: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

 

Today's Featured Book: 

Rental Person Who Does Nothing: A Memoir

by Shoji Morimoto

Genre: Memoir

Published: January 9, 2024

Page Count: 158 pages

Summary: 

Shoji Morimoto was constantly being told by his boss, "It makes no difference whether you’re here or not," and that his presence contributed nothing to the company. Morimoto began to wonder whether a person who "does nothing" could still have actual value and a place in the world. Perhaps he could turn "doing nothing" into a service? With one tweet, Rental Person was born.

Thank you, Jinjer (The Intrepid Angleano).

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY is hosted by Rose City Reader. What book are you happy about reading this week? Please share the opening sentence (or so) on BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY! Add the link to your blog or social media post and visit other blogs to see what others are reading.

Happy Friday and welcome to the FIRST LINE FRIDAY, hosted by Reading is My Superpower! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line.

@morimotoshoji I’m starting a service called Do-nothing Rental. It’s available for any situation in which all you want is a person to be there. Maybe there’s a restaurant you want to go to, but you feel awkward going on your own. Maybe a game you want to play, but you’re one person short. Or perhaps you’d like someone to keep a space in the park for your cherry blossom viewing party... I only charge transport (from Kokubunji Station) and cost of food/drink (if applicable). I can’t do anything except give very simple responses. 

With this tweet, I became “Rental Person,” a Rental Person Who Does Nothing. At the time, I had 300 followers. Ten months later, I had 100,000. The number of requests has grown too, and now I get a steady flow of about three a day. I find it utterly amazing. Why on earth has it happened? When I started the service, I thought it might be interesting, but I never imagined it would result in a book, a manga or TV programs. And when I try to hide my surprise, people started talking about my “aura,” as though I’m some kind of star.

Morimoto, Shoji. Rental Person Who Does Nothing: A Memoir, p. 1. Kindle Edition. 

THE FRIDAY 56 is hosted by Anne of Head Full of Books. To play, open a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% on your e-reader). Find a sentence or two and post them, along with the book title and author. Then link up on Head Full of Books and visit others in the linky. 

The purpose of THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, and befriend other bloggers. THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.    

Which book pairs perfectly with a certain snack in your opinion? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee-Addicted Writer)

All books pair perfectly with coffee. In my very humble opinion.